Self-playing musical instrument.



No. 746,472. PATENTED DEC. 8, 1 903.

L. B. DOMAN.

SELF PLAYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6. 1903.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PIG-.4.-.

iii a E i e j Tbriissimo. f'

V wmw a I E76 aww/m /bo'c PATENTED DEC. 8, 1903.

L. B. DOMAN'.

SELF PLAYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6,-1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 N0 MODEL.

PI G. 6.

PIG-.5.

PIG-.7.

awveutoz UNITED STATES lP atente d fbecember 8, i903.

PATENT OFFicE.

SELF-PLAYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 746,472, dated December 8, 1903.

Application filed May 6, 1903. Serial No. 155,839. (No model.)

T0 to whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lnwrs 'BENJ. DOMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elbridge, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self-Playing Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to self-playing musical instruments of a class employing mechanism for producing musical notes, the mechanism being controlled by a traveling perforated sheet or band of paper or other suitable material, and has for its object the provision of simple means for indicating to the operator of the musical instrument to which the device is attached the proper degree of force or volume to be given different passages of the music, also for indicating the proper tempo or speed at which said passages should be played.

Heretofore expression-lines or characters indicating different degrees of force and tempo have been printed or otherwise placed upon the music'sheet itself. Such sheets are expensive to prepare and in many types of self-playing instruments are not easily read by the operator, for the reason that the m usicsheet is arranged under the keyboard of the instrument or in some other position where the characters are not plainly visible.

,My attachment may be placed in any suitable position on the musical instrument where it is readily seen by the performer and overcomes many existing objections in prior inventions adapted for this purpose.

My invention consists in certain novelties of construction and combinations of parts, as hereinafter specified and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of the box or casing inclosing the indicating roll or rolls. Fig. 2 is a view of a perforated music as usual in selfplaying instruments adapted for use with my invention. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the indicating-rolls of my attachment. Fig. 4 is a view showing the covering of the roll detached and spread out having the musical expressions thereon relating to force. Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 5, Fig. 8, of the mechanism for operating the indicating-roll, showing the tracker-range and as much of the self-playing instrument as is necessary to give an illustration of my invention. Fig. 6 is a sectional view, line 6 6, Fig. 8, showing'the brake mechanism. Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the mechanism. Fig. Sis a front elevation of Fig. '7. Fig. 9 is a perspective of a modified form of indicator.

A suitable box or cabinet 1, having in its front portion apertures, as many as may be desirable, may be attached to any convenient part of the instrument where its indications will be readily seen by the operator. In the drawings two apertures are shown, through which indications of force and tempo appear. As the mechanism of both are identical, I shall describe the means for operating the force indications. It will be understood that indications other than force and tempo may be shown by increasing the number of rolls 20 and the operating mechanism therefor.

The diaphragm-poc :et 2, Fig. 5, diaphragm 3, wind-chest 4, valve 5, and valve-chamber 5 may be of any usual or approved construction and need not be specifically described here, except that vent 4' is provided between the wind-chest and diaphragm-pocket. The diaphragm-pocket is connected in usual manner by duct 6 to the tracker-range 7, having therein a duct 8, over which the perforated music-sheet 9 is drawn by any approved or usual means. Any existing mechanism may be employed for withdrawing the air from the pneumatics.

A music-sheet 9 is provided with the usual perforations for producing musical notes and may also have the usual expression marks or characters thereon, although this is not necessary when myindicating device is used. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the sheet shows my arrangement of perforations, as indicated at a b e (Z c f 9 7b, 011 the left-hand side of the paper for indicating the force to be used in a predetermined selection. Fig. 4 shows the equivalent expression characters correspond ing to the lettered series, as a b c c ef g h. i is on the right-hand margin of the paper or sheet indicate the tempo or speed at which the selection is to be played.

The series of perforations from a to 7e are produced in the music-sheet at the same time the note-perforations are cut, and it is only necessary to perforate the original or pattern stencil, which controls the perforating-machine in proper manner to secure any number of copies for use with the player containing the indicater-perforations without additional cost.

A motor-pneumatic 10 of usual form having its fixed board 11 attached to the walls of the valve-chamber 5 and wind-chest 4- is operated through valve 5 and port 12, which communicates with the valve-chamber 5. tor 10 has one or more light springs 18 13 for the purpose of keeping its walls normally distended.

A spring-pressed pawl 14 is connected. to one of the walls of motor 10 and is adapted to engage with a ratchet 15, located on the journal of the indieating-cylinder 20, to rotate the same when properly operated.

16 designates a motor-pneumatic similar to bellows 10, but of less capacity, having also distending-springs 17 17. A brake 18 is pivoted to the motor 16 and is operated to apply pressure on the periphery of the indicating-cylinder 20 when a partial vacuum exists in the wind-chest i, causing the collapse of the bellows. hen the performer ceases to operate the prime or operating bellows, the partial vacuum existing in the different chambers of the player while playing is destroyed, the springs 17 17 distend the motor 16, thus withdrawing the brake 18 from pressure on the cylinder 20, and of course the nonaction of the prime or operating bellows allows the distension of motor 10, as shown in Fig. 5.

lVhen the player is in operation, the air is withdrawn by suitable prime bellows, and as the wind-chest 4c is connected to the bellows of the main wind-chest of the player by passage 19 it will be seen that motor 16 will exert a pressure on cylinder 20, tending to hold said roll stationary. hen a perforation in the music-sheet as provided by my invention passes over the tracker-range 7 and air is admitted to the diaphragm-pocket 2, the valve is raised, and the motor 10 being of larger capacity than motor 16 overcomes the resistance applied to the roll by brake 18, and paw]. 14E moves ratchet and therewith the indicator-cylinder 20 a number of times or steps equal to the number of perforations in the music sheet which pass over the duct 8 in tracker-range 7. Motors 10 and 16 are subject to the same air-pressure, as will be understood from the drawings. Indicating roll or cylinder 20 is covered with a strip of paper or other material having thereon any desirable music-expression indications. In this example the expressions are indicated in Fig. i.

A weight 20 may be attached to the roll 20 for the purpose of returning the roll to a predetermined or prime position, in this instance being Ad Lib., as shown in Fig. 1.

The method of operating my device is as follows: Assuming the roll to be in the position shown in Fig. 1 and the self-player being in operation, we wish to indicate that The 1110- this part of the selection played. is to be PP, or very soft. It will be necessary to revolve the cylinder 20 one space. There fore one perforation is provided, as at (1, in Sheet 9, and as air is withdrawn from the pneumatic 10 by the operation of the playing instrument said pneumatic is collapsed, evercomes the tension of springs 13 1.3, and through the rotation one step of ratchet 15 by pawl 14- thus moving the indicator-roll 20 so that the expression PP will be visible in the box-aperture. The next indication being Ores, it will require two perforations to revolve the cylinder to that point, as before described. Thus the rotation of the cyl inder 20 to any desirable point is governed by the number of perforations necessary to indicate that point until the entire sheet of music has passed over the trackerrange, when the indication Re-roll will appear, showing that the end of the selection has been reached and there are no other pieces on the roll. In order to get this indication, six perforations are required.

It should be remembered that the pneumatic action here shown is very quick and that various indications are made almost instantaneously, as the perforations are but one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch apart, and I have succeeded in making the action so sen sitive that the cylinder will move as many as seven hundred spaces per minute. By arranging the last hole of any group of perforations at the exact spot where the indications would be were it printed on the sheet an expert operatorof the usual sheet can use my improvement without any practice.

By arranging a suitable number of perforations at the end of the music-sheet the indicator may be brought to its normal position, indicating Ad Lib. without the use of the weight 20. For instance, the last indication on the music-sheet is Be-roll. 'lherefore one perforation will cause the indicator to show the normal indication Ad Lib.

The indications may be the regular musical terms, as PP F FF, dzc, which are understood by musicians generally, or each of these terms may be accompanied by its equivalent in terms that non-musicians may understand. Forinstance, FF may be followed or preceded by very loud, the.

The tempo-indicator, as 21, may have in addition to terms designating different speeds a series of numerals corresponding to another series of numerals on the tempo-scale of the self-player, so that one not versed in music would still be able to play in proper tempo by simply setting the pointer of the tempo-scale (usually provided in this class of instruments) at the proper indication or number as displayed by the indicator.

Vhile I have described only one example of the physical embodiment of my invention, I do not thereby intend to exclude from the scope of the invention other and equivalent forms of the same involving modifications, in-

meme

asmuch as changes may be introduced in p ractice Without constituting substantial depart ures as, for instance, electromagnets may be used in place of the pneumatic motors without departing from the spirit of my invention.

A modification of the indicating means is shown in Fig. 9, wherein rolls 25 (with driving-ratchet 15) and 26 are shown with an endless band or strip having musical expressions thereon, said band or strip 27 being moved by the rotation of roll 25 through pawl 14 and ratchet 15 and returned to normal or prime position by weight 26.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with an instrument as described, of a traveling sheet having aseries of perforations in groups, an indicator, and means controlled by the sheet, whereby the indicator is operated with a step-by-step movement, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a self playing musical instrument of a suitable indicator, a traveling music-sheet provided with a series of perforations in groups, means controlled by the sheet whereby the indicator is operated with a step-by-step movement, and an automatic brake and means for applying said brake to the indicator, substantially as described.

3. A music sheet or band having a series of perforations arranged in groups disposed at predetermined intervals, an indicator, and means controlled by said sheet for imparting a step-by-step movement to said indicator.

4. The combination with a musical instrument, of an indicating roll or cylinder, operating means connected thereto, a traveling music-sheet perforated as described, a motor connected to the indicating roll, and means controlled by the music-sheet for operating said motor, and imparting a step-by-step movement to the indicating-roll, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a musical instrument of an indicating-cylinder, a pneumatic motor connected to said indicatingcylinder, atraveling sheet perforated as described, and

means controlled by said sheet for operating said motor, and imparting a step-by-step motion to said indicating-roll.

6. In a device as described, a traveling sheet perforated as described a tracker-range, a primary pneumatic, a wind-chest, a valvechamber, and a port in said chamber communicating with a motor, an indicator, and means controlled by said sheet for operating said motor, and connections from said motor whereby a step-by-step movement is imparted to the indicator, all combined substantially as described.

'7. The combination with a self-playing musical instrument, of a cylinder or roll having musical expressions thereon, a traveling music-sheet provided with a predetermined series of groups of perforations, and intermediate mechanism operated by suitable means for rotating said cylinder With a stepb y-step movement, substantiallyas described.

8. An indicating mechanism for musical instruments consisting of a suitable perforated music-sheet, a tracker-range, a primary pneumatic, a wind-chest, a valve and valvechamber having communication with a pneumatic motor, a roll or cylinder having musical expressions thereon, pawl-and-ratchet mechanism connecting said cylinder and motor, and a second pneumatic motor provided with and adapted to apply a brake to said roll, combined substantially as described.

9. An indicator for self-playing musical instruments consisting of an inclosing casing, two rolls therein having music expressions thereon, a pneumatic motor for each roll, rotating means for said rolls connecting each said motor and roll, mechanism for operating said motors, and a traveling perforated musicsheet adapted to control the mechanism of said motors, combined substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEWIS BENJ. DOMAN.

lVitnesses:

NETTIE A. BIBBENS, Mrs. THOMAS ELLIOTT. 

